Business Consulting

The digital transformation is rapidly changing the talent acquisition process around the world. Today’s technology makes it possible for organizations to discover new insights, allowing them to transform their recruiting process to be quick, engaging and convenient. Businesses that use artificial intelligence (AI) to blend social, mobile, video and cloud technologies enhance prospective candidate’s experiences, allowing them to attract the top talent.

The Benefits of AI in Recruitment

A digitally enabled process can increase application rates, improve candidate engagement and build the candidate pipeline to shorten the overall time to fill. The digital transformation of talent acquisition is not just about technology automating and streamlining the application and hiring process, but about how companies are adapting and evolving the way that they deliver services.

Many organizations are shifting to a more proactive, consultative model. This approach has recruiters leverage insights and analytics to provide guidance to candidates and hiring managers. The ability to make these immediate recommendations allows a sourcing process to be adjusted or requirements of the position to be changed. This saves time in the process and allows recruiters to consult more strategically with the business.

Conduct research: Educate yourself on the latest technologies available to create an integrated technology strategy that provides a cohesive framework for how they all sync together to create a seamless approach.

Create a holistic model: Ensure that resources are aligned, define how roles will be structured, understand specialized skillsets required and identify how hiring managers should interact with candidates.

Adapting to New Recruitment Technologies

Virtually every type of industry worldwide has transformed their business practices in the face of new breakthroughs in connectivity and how people work. Embracing new trends of the digital age will only reach their full effectiveness when a collaborative culture is established. Cross-functional learning and creating spaces for motivated talent to make empowered decisions are vital to embracing new business concepts and technologies in the digital age, like artificial intelligence.

There is a drastic inefficiency due to current manual recruitment tools and processes. From company job boards to applicant tracking systems, developments in artificial intelligence have created solutions to reduce issues and enable easier management of resumes and dealing with job boards that deliver low quality applicants.

Chatbots help to improve responsiveness by streamlining the process of seeking jobs and hiring talent. These can communicate with applicants, provide immediate feedback, rank applications and schedule interviews. For example, JobBot plugs into platforms like Craigslist and Indeed to interview applicants as soon as they apply. Responsiveness fosters a positive relationship between candidates and recruiters, allowing for a positive impact on an organization’s customer relationship management.

Chatbots also help prospective candidates. For example, Yodas is a bot that analyzes a person’s skills and asks a series of questions. Based upon the answers, specific jobs listings are recommended to a candidate to apply for.

Over 46% of talent acquisition leaders state that their recruiting teams struggle with finding qualified candidates.

AI for candidate sourcing is technology that searches for data that candidates post online. This information includes things like resumes and professional portfolios. This allows recruiters to identify passive candidates that match specific job requirements. This streamlines the sourcing process because it searches through multiple sources of candidates.

Over 70% of resumes that an organization or recruiter receives are unqualified, which means identifying qualified candidates can be extremely time consuming.

AI for screening is designed to automate the resume screening process. This type of intelligent screening software adds functionality to the ATS by using post-hire data such as performance and turnover to make hiring recommendations for new applicants.

The V-FITT System

VALiNTRY’s proprietary V-FITT system streamlines the hiring process, eliminates unnecessary stress and reduces costs for our clients. Leveraging this technology our team is able to identify the right candidates for your organization that match your specific requirements.

This system has aided us in growing our database with over 2 million unique candidates and acquiring over 6,000 resumes daily. Utilizing V-FITT, on average, our team is able to supply organizations with candidates that fulfill their requirements within 72 hours.

Fueled by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, real time analytics and digital marketing, V-FITT focuses on four types of candidates:

Passive: A candidate isn’t looking for a job, but have skills that match requirements for a job posting.

Active: A candidate has recently posted their resume on the internet.

Interested: A candidate applied to one of our positions.

Referral: A current or recent employee of our organization recommends a candidate.

More than 45% of VALiNTRY’s hires come through applications on our website, which is among the best in the industry allowing our team to find your business the best candidates, quickly and easily.

Revolutionizing Recruitment

Experts are predicting that AI will revolutionize recruiting and it has already begun. Tedious and time consuming tasks will become streamlined allowing the recruiter role to become more strategic. Artificial intelligence will help with improved KPIs including higher quality of hires and lower turnover.

Artificial intelligences helps to:

Improve efficiency: Recruiters can focus on more important tasks to find candidates more quickly.

Remove human biases: Some recruiters can have a bias towards specific, words or even phrases in a resume.

Allow recruiters to direct their focus on revenue: Artificial intelligence completes the sourcing and initial contact

Offer a better experience: Recruiters can invest more time developing a relationship with candidates

Although many recruiters may have trepidation when it comes to artificial intelligence being incorporated to their roles, it is important to remember that technology is here to help. There are many types of artificial intelligence technologies that can be leveraged to aid your organization. Determining the best programs to use is dependent upon your specific challenges. When utilized correctly, artificial intelligence can accelerate the hiring process and increase the success of recruiters, just as it has for VALiNTRY. If you’d like to take advantage of our system, contact us today.

Protecting your Small Business from Cyber Attacks

What would happen if a hacker launched a cyber attack against your business? The answer is all dependent upon your security. Taking the necessary precautions to protect your business is crucial and the VALiNTRY team is here to help.

Over 40% of cyber attacks target small businesses. Hackers don’t always like to go after the big fish in these situations. Most larger organizations understand the importance of investing in cyber security, so their wall of protection is more advanced and acts as a deterrent. Small businesses are actually drawing additional attention from cyber criminals because many times they don’t have the same level of security that a larger firm can afford. Cyber security is a practice that requires consistency, which can be difficult when human interaction is involved.

Your business has exactly what hackers want, employee and customer payment information. If your system isn’t secure, cyber criminals can easily gain access to everything from credit card information to social security numbers. Every business is at risk, but smaller organizations are usually the most vulnerable.

The top 7 security threats to small businesses

Microsoft Security Response Center conducted research on recent cyber attacks which concluded that the average time for infection or exploitation of an unpatched node on a compromised network is as little as 90 seconds.

Although it may be easier for larger organizations to bounce back from data breaches, small to midsize businesses don’t always have the same resources. This means that it is important to protect your organization, employees and your business with the proper IT security.

Some of the top threats include:

Growth of mobile malware: It is now easier for criminals to develop and deploy malware onto mobile devices. Businesses routinely use mobile devices, which makes them an easy target for hackers.

Data theft from Internet of Things (IoT) devices: Apps connected to the internet with no security makes this specific type of cybercrime easy. Negligence over security measures increases the chance of lawsuits against manufacturers.

Extortion attacks from stolen data: Recent successes from extortion efforts has increased the likelihood of additional threats of data details being publicized.

Ransomware on the internet: Poorly secured IoT devices are often targeted by hackers who place ransomware on them. These attacks are becoming more advanced, many times completely locking out users.

Hacker mercenaries: The dark market attracts many people including mercenaries that understand they can sell access to hacked systems to multiple parties. Often times they resell information stolen by others and post it on sites, this data can be sold and resold.

Stolen data aggregation: Many times, hackers will aggregate data from smaller businesses to increase its value. Since these companies are easily targeted, they continue to be hit.

Your employees: From making poor password choices to bringing their own devices to work, your employees could be inadvertently exposing you to an increased risk.

Unaware employees, increased security risks for small businesses

Many times, employees don’t understand the security risk that they pose to the organization. At a recent Microsoft Partner Conference, Brad Smith, Chief Legal Officer, said that there is always one employee that is going to click. Despite how careful and diligent your employees may be, this statement is very true. Some employee threat risks that are becoming increasingly concerning include:

Passwords: Taking the easy route with passwords increases the risk of a security breach

Phishing scams: By unknowingly clicking on a link, opening a document or downloading a file, malware could be introduced to your system.

Mobile Devices: Having no security plan or MDM policy in place within your organization means that many times employees will bring their own devices to work which can increase the risk of a breach.

Physical Threats: Leaving devices unattended and accessible or writing down passwords can increase the risk of a breach.

When it comes to security, employee education is key and it all begins with Penetration Testing. Penetration testing, also known as a Pen Test, helps to identify vulnerabilities and evaluate the security of an organizations IT infrastructure. From operating systems and services to application flaws and improver configurations, this test helps to exploit risky end user behavior.

Pen test are usually executed by using automated or manual technologies to intentionally compromise an organizations servers, network devices, end points, applications and wireless networks. These technologies successfully exploit risk areas and testers attempt to use the compromised system to launch subsequent exploits. This entails trying to gain access to higher levels of security clearance and other information from privilege escalation.

Once this data has been collected, IT and network system managers help evaluate the information and help train the businesses employees or how to reduce vulnerability risks.

Pen Testing allows an organization to:

Manage vulnerabilities

Avoid network downtime

Meet regular requirements

Avoid fines

Preserve image

Retain customer loyalty

Your business has the option of hiring a pen tester to test your network or purchase penetration software. These analysis’ should be conducted consistently and whenever:

New applications or network infrastructure is added

Upgrades or modifications are applied

New office locations are created

Security patches are applied

End user policies are modified

There are three types of tests that can be conducted, comprehensive, application and wireless.

Comprehensive penetration tests simulate a situation where an attacker is trying to gain access to assets by exploiting security weaknesses that exist across multiple systems.

The benefits of working with a Microsoft Partner Network Member

What does this partnership mean?

This new affiliation will help blend our unique portfolio of client counseling expertise with Microsoft’s array of advanced creative and support products and services.

An exclusive seal of approval, joining the ranks of the MPN, allows us to help clients gain access to exclusive offerings, reduce costs and generate a consistent revenue stream. Our new designation ensures that we receive the latest technical training, get insight into product usage and more to help our customers. Through this partnership, we can provide our customers additional promotions, discounts and special offers to increase their efficiency and productivity.

Enhanced capabilities of Microsoft Partners

The IT realm is in a constant state of evolution, meaning business’ require expertise to stay on trend with the latest offerings and technology. Take for example, modernizing legacy applications. Over 70% of a typical business’ global transactions run on legacy applications. Most large organizations are in various phases of migrating off of these platforms. From proprietary nature to total cost of ownership (TCO), there are various reasons for the transition and VALiNTRY is here to help.

Due to the wide range of technologies necessary to build modern web and mobile applications, there is a steep learning curve for legacy application developers. Our team of consultants have the experience and capabilities to eliminate this curve and help organizations successfully navigate this migration.

VALiNTRY is a Microsoft Partner with Microsoft Stack expertise

Business operations are becoming more complex and identifying the right software solutions can be confusing. We understand the benefits of the Microsoft Stack for your business since it is the most unique and comprehensive software. It is necessary for successful app development and IT Operations.

Cloud computing allows people to access applications downloaded on a computer or server through the internet. The cloud allows for flexibility, disaster recovery, automatic software updates and more. If not done properly, a migration can present many IT issues, but the experts at VALiNTRY are here to help.

Here’s how the cloud can help your business:

Capital-expenditure free: Cloud computing eliminates the high cost of hardware.

Document control: Over 70% of workers collaborate with others in different time zones which can cause many complications. Ensure documents are controlled and eliminate conflicting titles, file content and formats.

Security: If the event arises that a laptop is at risk, cloud computing provides increased security. Data is stored in the cloud, so it can be accessed despite what may happen with your computer.

Competitiveness: Gain access to enterprise class technology. Pay as you go services and cloud business applications ensure that smaller businesses can compete with larger organizations.

Flexibility: For fluctuating bandwidth issues, cloud capacity can be scaled through remote servers.

Disaster recovery: Smaller businesses may lack the capital and expertise to invest in robust disaster recovery. These organizations are two times more likely to than larger companies to implement cloud based backup and recovery solutions to save time and avoid a large up-front investment.

From initial concepts and designs to launch and maintenance, our experts will enhance your existing software applications to help your operations run as smoothly as possible.

Business operations continue to get more complex and choosing the right software solutions can be complicated. Improve your apps an increase speed of delivery with the right application development. Centered around Azure, Dynamics 365 and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Microsoft Stack is the future of app dev and IT operations.

These set of sub systems are used to create one, unified platform to accomplish a specific set of goals that meet your needs. These systems are able to be run by multiple vendors and linked by other programs as well.

As a Microsoft Partner, we are able to provide users at your organization with a customized set of software. Designed to specifically work in unison without creating any types of conflict that may arise when developers are not working together to define the end users’ primary needs.

Each organization has unique needs specific to their industry and stack components are dependent upon those needs. Although, there are general elements that our team recommends most businesses add in the design and implementation of their systems, these include:

Visual Studio: This is used to develop programs for Windows, websites and a wide range of other web applications. Microsoft’s vision for this is to be a one stop solution for hosting IDEs. From database development with SQL Server Data Tools to using Xamarin to write Android and iPad apps, it provides an advanced user experience for developers. Due to the available coding options, Visual Studio is ideal for any type of necessary debugging.

.NET: This tool enables coders to use coding in different languages and is used by millions across the world. This flexibility helps developers with function that include security, memory management and more. To address the concerns regarding the security Microsoft has initiated many improvements to the original versions.

C#: is a programming language developed by Microsoft to work within .NET. Recent iterations of the language are viewed as a rugged and general purposed programming language. This is always evolving to meet user’s needs and hardware changes.

SQL Server: This database management system is designed to easily allow access to data that is requested by other users. It allows other applications to access data from anywhere. This data keeper offers strong computing power which can embed .NET codes as stored procedures, functions and aggregates without sacrificing performance. Like other types of software, SQL Server is available in different versions to meet industry-specific needs. Our consultants work with organizations to develop customized system packages to meet their specific requirements.

Angular JavaScript (angular .js): Used to refine web application platforms and developed by Google, this is useful for accessing webpages frequently used by different mobile platforms. Search engine algorithms will penalize businesses for lack of compatibility and Angular JavaScript can help to counteract this. Our experts recognize that clients have the same types of issues as employees and are required to access data from different locations with different devices.

Azure: This is Microsoft’s cloud product that is dedicated to making it easier to develop and scale applications and services faster and at a lower cost. It’s many built in features and services allows designers to develop apps faster than competing products. Our consultants recommend using Azure because it supports technologies used by most IT professionals.

Windows Server: This cloud-based data center, used through Azure, has shown that it provides an elevated level of security. The incidence of malware and other malicious attacks is minimal and Microsoft has taken steps to ensure their platform can deflect emerging risks. A component of the Azure IaaS platform, the previous version can be hosted locally and on legacy servers.

Team Foundation Server (TFS): TFS is designed to allow source code management through a project’s lifecycle. Microsoft designed TFS to work in unison with Visual Studio and it enables teams to manage projects while seamlessly delivering enhancements to software.

Dynamics CRM: Microsoft encourages that this customer relationship management software product be paired with Dynamics CSM with its .NET framework to optimize effectiveness. Frequently used in sales environments, this software is easily adaptable to meet the needs of service divisions as well as operations, financials, service automation and marketing.

Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains / Dynamics 365: A well accepted business financial management application, it is particularly adaptable to be used by mid-sized organizations. It is used as an integral part of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform and handles financial accounting, balance sheets, general ledgers and financial reporting. The latest version of this software is expected to further enhance the usefulness of the application.

Why User Experience (UX) Matters

Becoming a member of the MPN also has its benefits when designing the proper user experience (UX). At the core of successfully designing a platform is UX.

UX deals with how a person feels when interacting with a digital product. It encompasses many factors, dictated by both designers and developers that are dependent upon user preference and environmental factors. These factors include accessibility, design, aesthetics, usability, utility, ergonomics and more. Usability is a key component of the user experience and deals with the effectiveness of a side and how user friendly it is.

Think about it, it doesn’t matter what your app or site looks like if users don’t understand how to interact with it. UX is extremely important for every digital product especially for complex sites and applications, retail and online sales, start up sites and businesses, small budget projects and projects or sites that are expected to last for a considerable amount of time.

Users must be able to easily navigate the site to understand how to use it. If it isn’t easy to navigate, users may be hesitant to return. An interaction rich experience will driver users back to your site.

Working on the Microsoft Stack allows our consultants to ensure that your company’s unique needs are met quickly and easily. Our AppDev team are experts at requirement gathering, project leadership, SCRUM/AGILE and Waterfall methodologies, having successfully led multi-million dollar software development projects. Adept at the Microsoft .NET language and associated libraries of code, our team of consultant are ready to lead your next software development project.

Discussing your options early

Mistakes can be extremely costly no matter what size your business is. Developing and implementing software that doesn’t meet the needs your organization’s needs allows for less productivity within the workplace. Contacting our consultants early within the process eliminates the risk of possible mistakes. When choosing between enhancing an existing software application that you’re running or rewriting the software, our team is well-versed in both realms. From initial concepts and designs to launch maintenance and even resale, we are here to help.

As a member of the MPN, our consultants explore all available options prior to making your customized recommendations. Depending on your organizations current and future needs, our trusted experts will guide you every step of the way to ensure enhanced efficiency and productivity.

How this helps your business

Although VALiNTRY already provides clients with high level consulting and support within the Microsoft space, benefits of partnering with our organization include receiving:

As America rewrites its political playbook, we are alternately bemused and alarmed by the way in which phrases like Fake News and Alternative Facts have jumped into our jargon. And by the widespread acceptance they are gaining,

Savvy business leaders have long noted that the idea of telling the same mistaken story over and over will make it so or manipulating facts to fit a particular position aren’t confined to the political arena.

Bernie Madoff peddled fake news. Brian Williams altered facts as he wrote and spoke about his journalistic exploits. Their transgressions were high profile and captured national attention, but represent only the tip of the fact-fudging iceberg that drifts through the corporate environment, mostly relating to the educational accomplishments of individuals. Consider these examples:

Sandra Baldwin, former president and chairman of the U. S. Olympic Committee. According to a New York Times report she claimed for years to hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and a doctorate from Arizona State. When a student was assigned to interview her for an alumni publication, it turned out her bachelor’s came from Arizona State after she had studied only three years at Colorado, and she never got around to finishing her doctoral dissertation.

One of Yahoo’s past CEOs, Scott Thompson, provided a resume when appointed in January, 2012 that showed degrees in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. A hedge fund shareholder investigated Thompson’s background and found he had a degree only in accounting – not computer science. By May, 2012, Thompson was gone.

In 2007, 28 years after MIT had appointed Marilee Jones its dean of admissions, the venerable institution discovered that not only had she not earned the undergraduate or master’s degrees she had claimed, but never received any college degree at all. Jones admitted the deception and resigned, explaining that she “did not have the courage” to correct her resume when she applied for the job she held for nearly three decades.

The business world takes very seriously false claims of educational achievement, even though there seems to be little evidence, as is the case of Marilee Jones, that lack of any degree is an automatic deterrent to success. Rather, the instances uncovered suggested, as the hedge fund manager who blew the whistle on Yahoo’s CEO Scott wrote Yahoo’s Board, that claiming credentials relevant to one’s position “1) undermines his credibility as a technology expert and 2) reflects poorly on the character of the CEO who has been tasked with leading Yahoo! at this critical juncture.”

Each incident of this kind requires thought and action from the employee involved and from the management structure – from Board member to immediate supervisors – as to the resolution that best serves the individual and the organization. The literature is replete with instances where a management or Board decided to keep a key employee even after word of resume inflation had become public. Jeffery Papows, for example, president of IBM’s Lotus, fibbed about his academic and military background. He claimed to have been a military pilot but was actually an air traffic controller. He said he was a Captain in the Marines when military records showed he was a Second Lieutenant. He cited a doctorate from Pepperdine that had really been issued by an unaccredited correspondence school, according to reporting by ZDNet. He kept his job, though later resigned after being named in a sexual discrimination complaint. Other CEOs and key employees have remained in their positions successfully, with some foregoing bonuses or making payments to the employer as punishment.

Like MIT, which took 28 years to verify resume claims, time is challenge for businesses of all types in assuring prospective employees are who and what they claim. A CareerBuilder survey of 2,188 human resource professionals found that more and more people are lying on their resumes today. It’s not hard to identify some of the exaggerations, like the candidate who claimed 25 years’ experience at age 32 or who filed two applications for the same position, listing different work histories on each. But other, especially older claims, are hard to verify and chew up large blocks of time, which is why some errors and more inflations slip through.

VALiNTRY Values

This is where the inverted organization structure of VALiNTRY – putting others before ourselves – becomes important. Our goal is to be counted among those companies that put their customers first by empowering their front-line employees to deliver extraordinary service and unparalleled experience. It may be why, because we are focused on your field, there may be both financial and security value in drawing from employment or staffing candidates whose aspirations and experience we can match closely with your current needs and longer range plans.

People service ranks high among VALiNTRY’s Values – we don’t deal in cookie cutters or cattle calls – we are dedicated to enriching and serving our clients, our employees and one another. We were founded in 2013 by staffing industry veterans to provide consulting services throughout the United States. VALiNTRY’s 100% U. S. based recruitment team is changing the game in IT, Healthcare, Marketing, Finance/Accounting and CPA contracting and consulting. We’ve been living our dedication in a way that has led to our growth to three offices, in Orlando, Nashville and Dallas, staffed by members of a single team sharing the same values, vision, and real life experience.

Here is how we state our core values, each preceded by the typographical sign that reflects our commitment to placing our clients and consultants/contractors before ourselves, with management at the bottom of the priority list:

People Service – enriching and serving our clients, our employees and one another.

Accountability – being accountable and responsible to commitments and results.

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Google recently released a study about how the internet is used to influence B2B purchasing decisions. If you haven’t checked it out and you sell a product or service to other businesses, then you need to stop reading this and go read that. (and then come back!) I’ll wait! Read More

Emerging markets, combined with revolutionary changes in technology, dictate significant changes in marketing strategies become the norm, rather than the exception, in the future. Digitalization does, and will increasingly, guide the direction and scope of change. To garner a better understanding of the forces at play, 75 CIOs from the Dallas / Fort Worth region recently attended a Gartner conference to explore the issues facing IT and operations professionals. Along with the metroplex area CIOs, Valintry’s VP of Business Development for the Southwest, Chris Blair, was also in attendance to stay abreast of what Gartner terms the “Next Digital Nexus.” Read More

We all grew up learning that the “most direct route” between two points is a “straight line.”

We all generally seem to remember that rule as we walk through daily life when it comes to identifying our daily travel routes, whether using a GPS or a map for hiking, biking or driving a car. Everyone wants to know “how fast can we get from point A to point B?”

America loves sports and I have never encountered anyone, not even the with the most meager of resources who tried to use a football for a baseball or a soccer ball for a basketball. In other words, you have to have the “right equipment” to play and win a specific sports game and reach the respective goal. Read More